Upvoted by Reddit

Thousands of unique stories are happening on Reddit everyday, propelling people and ideas to an audience of millions. But what happens after those posts go up? What happened leading up to it? Upvoted gives these stories—from the seemingly ordinary to the extraordinary—the creative space to expand, breathe, and grow. Learn more by going beyond the upvote and see what makes Reddit so remarkable.

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Six perspectives on coming out, told firsthand from Reddit users—and employees—in a new segment called Storyboard. A special Pride Month edition of Upvoted.

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/u/m3rlino is the focus of this week’s episode of Upvoted by Reddit. We discuss her upbringing, the death of her step dad, moving in with her father, addiction, how she was sent to an all women’s pentecostal discipleship program, the rules of the program, the restaurant all the students worked at, fundraising, and assimilating back into society.

/u/shitty_watercolour is the focus of this week’s episode of Upvoted by Reddit. We discuss his upbringing, how he started doing paintings on reddit, welcoming celebrities on AMAs, how he started getting paid commissions, depression, growing as an artist, his recent novelty account art battle with /u/awildsketchappeared, and his upcoming project with /u/Poem_for_your_sprog.

Willie Barcena is the focus of this week’s episode of Upvoted by Reddit. We discuss his upbringing, career, development deals, the art of comedy, experience on cruise ships, couples counseling, and what he hopes for in his legacy.

David Reynolds (/u/DavidMReynolds) and Shaz Abdullah (/u/dartmoorninja) are the focus of this week’s episode of Upvoted by Reddit. We discuss game of thumbs, zombies, their church residence, meeting Steven Spielberg, Dartmoor, their trailer for the Raindance Festival, Kickstarter, First Person Shooter and Level 2.

Matthew VanDyke (/u/MatthewVanDyke) is the focus of this week’s episode of Upvoted by Reddit. We discuss his upbringing; his motorcycle trip through North Africa as well as the Middle East, why he fought in the Libyan Revolution, his experience in Libyan prison, his experience in the Syrian Revolution, his documentary films about these experiences, and his new organization fighting Isis in Northern Iraq, ‘Sons of Liberty International’.

Alexis also reads “The Magic Man” by /u/Samjez. This piece was first place in last month's Upvoted Writing Contest in r/writingprompts.

/u/Minifig81 and Ben Nguyen (/u/Ben10MMA) are the focus of this week’s episode of Upvoted by Reddit. With /u/Minifig81 we discuss how he got into fighting spam on reddit, moderates 138 subreddits, and why he spends so much time on reddit. With Ben Nguyen we discuss growing up in South Dakota, how he got into fighting, dropped out of college to pursue a career in MMA, trained in Thailand, met his wife, his infamous fight with Julz Jackal, and what lies ahead.

Alexis also reads “Salt and Blackberries” by /u/asphodelus. This piece was second place in last month's Upvoted Writing Contest in /r/writingprompts.

Elyot Grant (/u/elyot) is the focus of this week’s episode of Upvoted by Reddit. We discuss how Elyot created Prismata, how he dropped out of graduate school at MIT, his epic TIFU, how reddit came to the rescue, the Prismata Kickstarter, and what Lunarch Studios has planned for the future.

Alexis also reads Where the Red Sands Blow by /u/quantumfirefly. This piece was third place in last month's Upvoted Writing Contest in /r/writingprompts.

Tracey Helton (/u/traceyh415) is the focus of this week’s episode of Upvoted by Reddit. We discuss her depression growing up, how she became addicted to heroin, life as a homeless heroin addict, being the subject of the HBO documentary ‘Black Tar Heroin’, how she got clean, her involvement in harm reduction, how she got involved in r/opiates on reddit, Naloxone, and how she saved the lives of over 120 users by sending naloxone to those with no access.

Heather (/u/sailingshort) is the focus of this week’s episode of Upvoted by Reddit. We discuss Heather’s upbringing, how she discovered sailing after high school, how she started working on tall ships in New Zealand, how her ship almost sank on a trip at sea, how the crew banded together, and how this experience led to her to fall in love with her husband, a carpenter on the ship during this traumatic event.

This episode features Heather /u/sailingshort and Jesse Simms (/u/actionjesse).

/u/tomato_juice99 and the Shartmander are the focus of this week’s episode of Upvoted by reddit. In the story of /u/tomato_juice99 we discuss how he developed teeth problems, reached out to reddit, connected with Dan Noorthoek, the reddit community’s contribution, and his incredible transformation. In the Shartmander’s story we discuss who he is, the story behind his tattoo, all the Shartmander merchandise, and his brief internet fame.

Warlizard is the focus of this week’s episode of Upvoted by reddit. We discuss legend of The Warlizard Gaming Forum; The Warlizard Chronicles; the origin of The Warlizard Gaming forum; Warlizard’s greatest pranks; his writing; scorpions; how he used reddit to staff events; and what his reddit fame really means.

The Button is the focus of this week’s episode of Upvoted by reddit. We discuss The Button’s inception; flairs; the reddit office pool on when The Button would end; the data garnered from The Button; the Pressiah; and what happened when The Button ended.

Alexander Rhodes (/u/Alexanderr) is the focus of this week’s episode of Upvoted by reddit. We discuss his passion for film; getting into the entertainment industry; working as a background actor on Tom Cruise’s Jack Reacher; his rise to internet fame with his role as Suspicious Onlooker; how he founded the r/NoFap subreddit; and how he raised money for /u/edify’s funeral. This episode also features an appearance from Tim Ferriss (/u/Tim-Ferriss)

Here is a statement from /u/edify’s father:

“While Jarod was alive he spoke of reddit briefly a few times. But I never heard him enough to look it up. We never knew this side of Jarod until the redditors started making comments with their contributions on GoFundMe. I am still amazed at how many people contributed to help us lay Jarod to rest. I would like to thank everyone for helping us. If I could, I would like to give a hug to everyone. So, here's an e-hug, for helping a disabled Dad bury his son. Thank You, and May God Bless all of You.”

/u/Yoinkie2013, /u/motivatinggiraffe, and Arnold Schwarzenegger (/u/GovSchwarzenegger) are the focus of this week’s episode of Upvoted. We discuss Yoinkie’s Ulysses’ Bucket List challenge; the birth of Motivating Giraffe; battling with depression; the importance of positive motivation; and Arnold’s pep talk to a redditor who had a rough day at the gym.

Sebastiaan de With (/u/caliform) and Stewart Philkill (/u/aye_candy) are the focus of this week’s episode of Upvoted. We discuss Sebastiaan’s upbringing in Holland; how he fell in love with design; moving to the US; getting divorced; meeting Stewart; embarking on their epic trip and what happened with the infamous Sarah.

Josh Wise and Dogecar are the focus of this week’s episode of Upvoted. We discuss Josh Wise’s career in racing; Dogecoin; how Denis Pavel came up with the idea of Dogecoin sponsoring Josh Wise; how Dogecoin crowdfunded the sponsorship; how Josh Wise won the fan vote for the All Star race with the help of redditors; and the NASCAR community’s reaction.

Craig Watts and Leah Garces are the focus of this week's episode of Upvoted by reddit. We discuss how Craig got into farming; farmers’ relationships with poultry companies; the conditions of chickens in factory farms; how Leah met Craig; Compassion in World Farming; their viral video; false labeling in the meat industry; animal welfare; their reddit AMA; and their new petition.

Jack (/u/touchmyfuckingcoffee) is the focus of this episode of Upvoted by reddit. We discuss his upbringing; the loss of his father; meeting his wife; his battle with drug addiction; his spectacular firing; discovering reddit; how he got started repairing vacuums; his AMA; and a surprise revelation.

Huck (/u/huckstah) is the focus if this week's episode of Upvoted by reddit. We discuss Huck’s upbringing; his impetus for hitting the road; hitchhiking on his first trip to San Francisco; finding work; Hobo Whiskey; how his friends were murdered in Hawaii; the /r/Vagabond Subreddit; meeting Tanner Masseth (/u/other_tanner); creating their documentary, ‘Transients’; and how Rin (/u/rinrose16) used /r/Vagabond to transition to a lifestyle on the road.

Michael (/u/tgtly) is the focus of this week's episode of Upvoted by reddit. We discuss Michael’s upbringing; her battle with depression; her relationship with Francesca (/u/Franjane); their fateful psychedelic mushroom trip; Michael coming out as transgender; her post to the Swole Acceptance subreddit; what it’s like transition; and what lies ahead.

Tuesday and Billy Cain (/u/billyjoecain) are the focus of this week's episode of Upvoted by reddit. We discuss the history of Texas’ SB5, Senator Wendy Davis’ historic filibuster, Tuesday’s controversial sign, the social media backlash, and how the Cains stood up for their beliefs in the face of death threats.